2017 WEST AUSTRALIA SHORT COURSE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 2017 Western Australia State Open and Age Short Course Championships wrapped up over the weekend, where both junior and senior level athletes took to the HBF Stadium Pool. At stake were roster spots on the West Australia Short Course State Team, of which 47 age group swimmers were ultimately named. The SC State roster will represent West Australia at the upcoming National State Team Championships in Canberra September 22nd-24th, as well as the Australian Short Course Swimming Championships in Adelaide towards the end of October.

On a team level, Busselton took the overall Country Club title with 182 points, while UWA-West Coast was the Metropolitan Club overall winner with 1885.5 points to its credit.

Short Course Championships Highlights

2016 Olympic medalist Tamsin Cook made a return to the pool, as the 18-year-old South African-born Aussie swimmer had been on a voluntary hiatus from both training and competition since February of this year. Back at it in Mount Claremont this weekend, Cook collected 4 golds over the course of the meet.

The freestyle specialist kicked off her campaign with a win in the 400m freestyle in a time of 4:09.69, winning by over 11 seconds. She also took gold in the 17/18 100m freestyle with a time of 55.75, followed by an overall win in the 200m free with a mark of 2:00.20. Cook’s UWA West Coast squad was also the women’s 4x100m freestyle championship title winner, with Cook splitting 56.72 on the 2nd leg.

Another member of that gold medal-garnering relay was UWA teammate Brianna Throssell, a 2016 Olympic finalist in the women’s 200m butterfly. As part of the 4×100 free squad here in West Australia, Throssell notched an opening spit of 55.52 after winning the individual 100m free event in a time of 54.27. The 21-year-old also clocked a 100 fly prelim time of 1:01.42.

Holly Barratt, who had a dream-like summer by becoming Australia’s oldest-ever elite international team rookie by qualifying for Budapest at the age of 29, doubled up on backstroke wins in Mount Claremont. Representing Rockingham, one of the Swimming Australia High Performance Centers, Barratt clocked 58.78 in the 100m and 2:14.56 in the 200m, while also placing 1st in the women’s 12&O 50m free in a mark of 25.94.

Giving fans a blast from the past was 26-year-old Tommaso D’Orsogna, who has been relatively quiet on the international swimming scene since winning bronze as a member of the Aussie men’s 4x100m medley relay in London. D’Orsogna made a cameo on his UWA West Coast 4x100m freestyle relay, which won in 3:17.01, while the 2015 Australian National University graduate also won the individual 50m freestyle in 22.20, a new personal best.

The West Australia State Team roster can be seen in its entirety here.

About Loretta Race

After 16 years at a Fortune 1000 financial company, long-time swimmer Retta Race decided to change lanes and pursue her sporting passion. She currently is Coach for the Northern KY Swordfish Masters, a team she started up in December 2013, while also offering private coaching. Retta is also an MBA …